Light It Up
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and seventy-seven:  PREQUEL TO #140  Mike explains his reasons for wanting the duet, while they seek a song.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 17th cycle. Now cycle 18!_

**YEAR ONE ANNIVERSARY CYCLE!** - It has now been one year since I've started this Gleekathon, and I had a thought that I should do something special for it. So this is what I did: Selecting from the start of it all to the end of august (well, I had to plan! ;)), I picked my 21 favorite one shots. A number of those I was very attached to, but left sad to see may have fallen through the cracks, so it seems fair they should be recognized.

The 21 stories were split in three categories: **POV swap - Prequel - Sequel**... I think that goes without saying ;) In no particular order... **Today's story** is a Prequel to #140 "Lyrics, Lights, Love" a ND & Mike/Brittany story originally posted March 10th 2010.

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**"Light It Up"  
Mike/Brittany **

He'd chosen Brittany as his partner; he never needed to think it through, it just felt right. Now that he had her, he just had to find them a song… That was the harder part. Would he pick something that highlighted their dancing, or something more… personal? He figured the best way to settle the matter would be to talk about it with her, both the song and why he wanted to do it.

The next afternoon, after football practice, he'd hurried to catch her, while she was on her way out of Cheerios practice. "Hey, can we talk?" He'd run up to her.

"Hi," she blinked, surprised to see him. "Okay," she told him, waving goodbye to Santana and Quinn before following Mike. They walked out of school, and he led her to go sit on one of the benches lining the path.

"I wasn't really expecting this whole solo thing, I just wanted to get a verse, a line, something, you know?" She nodded with a smirk. "But this can work even better… especially with you," he gave her a look and she nodded. "Don't suppose you've got any song ideas?"

"Sure," she nodded.

"For the show?" he specified.

"No…" she admitted, shaking her head.

"Right," he nodded to himself… So back to square one they were.

"Are you okay?" she asked; of course she'd be the one to notice.

"The reason I want to do this… It's for my little brother, Joey, to help him… open up… He doesn't… He almost never talks to anyone. He's shy, very shy, always in his world. With us, he's fine… for the most part… But he'll whisper to us, sometimes talk… They took him to see someone once, but it's just him, he's fine, just shy…" He looked back at her. Brittany was listening, though she didn't know what to say. "I know, I can help him get better."

"How?"

"I used to be like him," he revealed.

"Yeah?" she was surprised. He nodded.

"Even until… not long ago, before Glee Club… I'd just do my own thing, dance in my room… Didn't talk all that much," he shrugged. "But he's even worse off. I don't want him to miss out on stuff because of this… Then I thought of all the ways Glee Club's just made me… happy, and more open… I thought if he could see that, maybe he'd see he's got options…"

"But you're awesome…" she pointed out. "You've always been, at least to me," she shrugged. He looked at her, smirking. "Being like you doesn't have to be a bad thing, does it?" she suggested.

"Might be easier if he had someone like you, like I did… But how often does that happen?" He smiled.

"Yeah, I'm pretty great," she nodded with just enough smirk to let him see she was messing around. Either way, he laughed.

"Yeah, you are," he agreed, and she smiled.

"Well if he sees us up there, you, and me, and the club… then he…" she returned to their previous conversation, and he nodded as she worked it out. "I like it," she nodded.

"We still don't have a song," he pointed out. She frowned, remembering.

"I'm not good at that, but you should just pick something; I trust you," she nodded. He didn't look at ease still. "But I'll try to help," she veered back to him, having been about to get up and head home. "I won't leave, even if we have to sit on this bench all night," she nodded. He laughed, nodding back.

"What if we're hungry?" he played.

"I've got gum…" she offered.

"Good, so we're set," he bowed his head. A moment later, he felt an arm around his shoulders, then an another, and he turned his head to find himself eye to eye with Brittany. She looked to be trying to pass on inspiration to him, and one thing became clear to him… He didn't want to do a dance number with her… not this time. Then she rested her head on his shoulder and he breathed, touching her arm, around his neck… It got him thinking.

He was happy when he was with her… It had always been that way. There was just something about her that made you feel better than you'd been before she was there. He felt inspired, deep inside, and that was an effect he'd experienced for so long around her without even realizing it.

He sat up suddenly, with an idea clawing its way on. Brittany let go at this, and he looked at her. I think I got it, come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her along, back toward school, to the library. He'd watched the movie with his cousins Maggie and Jen once, there was this song… He didn't remember the title but he was sure he could find it… Hopefully, Brittany would like it… He could feel she would…

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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